Scar
by Rubyia
Summary: "Don't worry, Naruto. I'll bring back Sasuke for you. I'll kill him for you."
1. Prologue

The sky was crying with her. The clouds were dark with tears that blended with her own. She watched through her drenched strands as the droplets turned her blooodied hands into a pink that rivaled her hair. She had always favored her unique hair color. The pink brought out her bright green eyes that were now glassy with tears. Pink was a color of fragile beauty, of innocence, of young love...But all that it stood for in her life was destroyed. For the first time in her short life, she_ hated _the color. She wanted to cut it off and watch it burn with merciless eyes. But she couldn't do that. _He _had liked the color. _He _was always happy with everything about her. _He _wouldn't have wanted her cry rivers for him. _He _would have wanted her to be happy and smile for him. But, she couldn't. She couldn't stop crying. She couldn't truly smile anymore. She couldn't be _Haruno Sakura, _the only female member of Team 7, the deadly medic who specialized in poisons, she couldn't be _Naruto's Sakura _anymore.

With new resolve, she picked herself off the ground of memorial stone and bandaged the new wound on her upper right arm. She could easily heal the bloody spiral with her chakra, but that would have defeated the whole purpose of inflicting the wound. The spiral on her arm would be her keepsake of her happiness and her anger. It would stand for the laughter and smiles of the brother she had lost. It would stand for the goal of killing the man who slaughtered her brother. Until she killed _Uchiha Sasuke _she would have that scar.

Her fists soared through the air, shattering invisible opponents.

Her agonized scream pierced the hearts of the sympathic group that had gathered around her.

"Don't worry, Naruto._ I'll bring back Sasuke for you_. I'll kill him for you."


	2. Chapter 1

It scared her. She, Yamanaka Ino, was afraid. Of course, she wouldn't admit it to anyone but it still frightened her. The glassy eyes and the fake smile Sakura gave everyone was bonechilling. The smiles and the empty eyes may have fooled everyone else, but it did not convince Ino. Her childhood friend and rival was nothing but a hollow shell of her former self.

"Sakura. Sakura! SAKURA! Say something, please!" Ino nearly cried out at the emotionless rosette who spaced out once again.

"Ino? I'm fine, really. I'm happy-" Sakura's words were cut off when her blond friend burst into tears.

"DON'T LIE TO ME SAKURA! I know you're not happy but don't push us away like this! We can help you! You don't have to destroy your life over Naruto and Sas-"

"DON'T SAY HIS NAME INO!" Sakura's eyes flashed at her friend. She promptly left the park Ino took her to in order to "have some girly time". She knew better though. Lady tsunade had ordered everyone with any relationship to Haruno Sakura to keep a close eye on the rosette, to make sure she did not "explode" again as Kiba had described it. Elite Anbu tailed her every footstep and monitored every breath she took. She understood that she was in a fragile state of mind after Naruto's death, but it made her so angry that they wouldn't leave her alone. So, _so _angry that they wouldn't leave her alone to cry her heart out.

"_Even if you could cry, you wouldn't. He wouldn't want to see you like this._"Inner Sakura had made a reappearance as soon as Naruto died. It was sad to see how she seem to regress back into her old, sniveling self. It disgusted her that she wanted to cry and beg Naruto to come back from wherever he went. But that was how it was. She couldn't live normally wthout her brother to laugh at everything and smile that legendary smile.

Sakura escaped to Team 7's old training ground where no one else dared to use. People tended to avoid the sullen kunoichi whenever she was in a depressed state, which happened to be often. She was monstrous in this state. Sakura obliterated the forest and ground surrounding the training zone so much that she had taken to repairing the ground with chakra and replanting trees in order to avoid destroying the place permanently. It was here that Sakura trained herself to be as agile as the Hyugas and as efficient in Taijutsu as Rock Lee. It was in these forests where Sakura submerged herself training to forget the happiness that was robbed from the world.

Naruto and Sakura had often pondered the reasons for _him _to leave Konoha. It was simply unthinkable that their teammate could be so absorbed in the idea of revenge that he would betray everyone he knew. But now the pink-haired demon that had become Sakura, understood. She understood the pain and sorrow when someone close betrayed your trust and killed the center your world. She understood the bloodlust that came with the invisioning of the traitor's death. She understood the determination in eleminating the man that killed all that she held dear. She understood the the monster that had become _Uchiha Sasuke. _

But that didn't make it easier for her to forgive her former teammate. If anything, it made her more determined to eliminate Sasuke. She would have wanted someone to put herself out of her misery if she became that absorbed in revenge. But it was too late for that now.

Sakura stared at the trees that blended into the darkness that beckoned her, and made her decision. Konoha could offer her no more kowledge. She had trained under the Hokage as a medic nin that rivaled her mistress and specialized in poisons. She trained under the legendary Copy ninthat was Kakashi. She could have been made Anbu Captain if her mental facilities were not determined as "unstable". That couldn't be helped; who would be "stable" if their brother died by the hands of your old crush?

She had nothing left to learn and master in Konoha. She still had family and friends, but Sakura had pushed them all away and they had little weight over her decisions. The only person that had managed to worm into her frozen heart was Lady Tsunade. Even she had little influence in her goals. It would hurt them but it must be done. They were nothing but distractions from the pain she had buried in her heart as motivation to reach her goal. There was nothing for her in Konoha.

She must leave Konoha.

A/N- This is my first FF and it's appreciated if you leave a comment on how my writing can be improved. Sorry of it's a little choppy and hard to follow. Please no flames. :P


	3. Chapter 2

It was disapointing how easliy she slipped under the surveilence of the Anbu trailing her. She wanted someone to fight her. She wanted to see the faces of the people she once held dear to her stained with tears of frustration and anger. It was irrational, but Sakura wanted to see her friends in the pain she was feeling everyday. She wanted to see some kind of emotion other than sadness and pity on their faces. Anything but the pitying eyes that followed her everywhere.

"_They should've seen this coming...the fools."_ Unlike in her genin days, her inner thoughts were less of a empowering state of mind and more of a friend who reassured her. She was less energetic and more sullen but she was someone the shinobi knew would not let her down. She was a manestation of Sakura's thoughts and worries and had adapted to the kunoichi's personality. As a medic Sakura knew this could not be healthy but as a girl who lost everything, Inner Sakura was all she had on her journey.

Lost in her thoughts as she carelessly jumed over the towering gates of Konoha, Sakura stopped in time to stare at the faces of the Hokage Mountain.

"You sure this is what you want?" a voice from the shadows greeted her.

Peering under her bangs, Sakura smiled sadly at her best friend's team mate. The Nara was staring into the clouds overhead with a bored expresson, but looked over intently at Sakura.

"Don't stop me from going Shikamaru. You know there's nothing left here for me. Just let me go. Please."

"Ino's going to kill me for this, but...there's nothing I can do. You sure you want this? You'll never be able to come back. You'll be a missing nin forever. Even Lady Tsunade wouldn't be able to stop the hunter nins to take you out if it comes down to it." Shikamaru slowly drawled out with a lidded eyes. At her silent nod, the man sighed and looked sadly up at the girl from his seat under the trees.

"Troublesome..." He picked himself up and left for the gates without looking back.

"Thanks for everything Shikamaru. Say bye to Ino-Pig for me will ya?"

The Nara simply let out a large sigh and continued to walk away. During the months after Naruto died, Sakura had secluded into herself. The only thing close to being a highlight of those gray days were the shogi games Shikamaru would entice her into playing. They didn't speak but the clacks of wood spoke loudly enough. The lazy ninja who was now one of the smartest people in the village had previously lost his sensei in one of the battles with Akatsuki. Although the Ninja Wars were now over, the lost of close ones still hit the surviving shinobi hard.

Pumping Chakra in her feet, Sakura ran toward Sunagakure. The Kazekage was devastated when he found out that his close friend had died at the hands of the last Uchiha. Sabaku no Gaara was rumored to have gone into a frenzy when the messanger had delivered his news and nearly died from his injuries. Although he had his demon extracted, the Kazekage was still very much a powerful man. It was risky, but Sakura knew the man would provide help to her if it meant avenging the blond.

Naruto was said to have chased Sasuke down after the final battle with Madara ad confront him. Although Sasuke had helped with the war, he refused to return to the village who had ordered his clan's demise. In a battle that was rivaled the intensiy of the Legendary Sannin, Naruto perished. The Uchiha had the decency to lay the broken body of his former teammate at the joined forces' camps, but left immediatly afterwards. The death of the hero stunned many before scouts were sent to arrest Sasuke.

As she tree hopped, Sakura could feel the scar on her arm throb with a familiar pain as she thought of the day. She wanted to let loose the pending tears, but her body refused to cry. It was as if crying for days had exhausted her tear glands. In fact it was hard to show any true emotion lately, only facades even the most inexperienced of genin would see through.

"Naruto...Sasuke..."

XxXxXxX

"Hmph." It was barely a word, but it was enough. The scantly clad women backed off his person immediatly as his eyes flashed red. It was truly disgusting how they would throw themselves at every person who appeared to have the right body parts walk down the street. Even henged he couldn't stop girls from trailing him. He couldn't even walk down a street in a civilian town without being stared at. If he was any lesser being, he would have cried out in frustration. But he was a Uchiha and Uchihas don't shame themselves like that.

But he did shame him self. He did destroy the remains of his family's honor. Did he not leave his village, his home? Did he not kill his brother? Did he not kill all the reamaining Uchihas in the world? Did he not kill his best friend when he tried to save him from himself? He barely has he right to call himself one of the proud Uchihas.

His dark eyes clouding with memories, he walked into the cool waiting room of the hotel he was currently staying at. It was a small buiding furninshed with the bare necessities.

"Unitaka-san! Back from your stroll already? You just missed the messenger! He gave me a package titled to you. I have it here behind the counter. He was quite handsome. Do you think he has a lover? Maybe he's taken already! Or ma- " The petite woman behind the cashier was practically hopping from her stool in excitement. The woman was one of the loudest, most talkative and energetic person the world had ever seen. He stiffened, no, not the loudest, or the most talkative, or the most energetic. Mentally shaking himself from his thoughts, Sasuke accepted the discreet brown package from ...what's her name again? Kanae? Kagara? Kanan? Something along those lines...

He walked toward his room at the farside of the building, leaving Kanae (that was her name right?) still rambling about husbands and wives. Walking past the windows, he glanced at his reflection and mentally shook the discomfort at seeing the brown haired, brown eyed young man with tired eyes. It was disturbing and discomforting, but it was necessary to avoid detection. Even with a henge, he couldn't disguise the tired and sullen red eyes. It reminded him too much of Itachi and what he did that day. Instead of being angry, he only felt empty sorrow. It was much worse since there was nothing he could do to ease the throbbing behind his eyes.

As he carefully aligned his custom nin sandles with the wall, Sasuke stared at the small brown package. It was addressed to one Unitaka Sasumo in a familiar messy scrawl. No one knew he was here, muchless his "name". Opening the package and disabling a complex jutsu, he took out a simple letter.

"_She's coming for you. You better take care of her, you little brat or I'm going to rip that stick out of your ass and castrate you with a dull, rusty knife. ~Love Tsunade"_

Despite himself, Sasuke shuddered at the Hokage's threats to his person. He pulled out a picture frame and a leaf forehead-protector with a red wrappings. The four people in the picture made his heart clench painfully. A frowning blond and a dark haired Uchiha glared at each other while a young girl grinned happily in front of them with a older, silver-haired man. "_Team 7_". The forehead protector didn't mean anything to him until he caught a wiff of it. "_Cherry Blossoms?_"

Tsunade's words echoed in his mind as he mulled over what to do in this situation.

_"She's coming for you."_


	4. Chapter 3

Sunagakure, the village hidden in the sand was quite aptly named. If Sakura was anyless of a kunoichi than she was, she would have never reached the towering gates of the shinobi village. After nearly two days of traveling under the battering sun, Sakura finally had a glimpse of the village. She visited the village as often as she could to escape the confines of Konoha. It had been years since she visited the allied village with another's company, but she clearly remembered the mission Lady Tsunade had sent her, Kakashi-senpai and Nar-.

_No. I shouldn't dwell on the past. It doesn't matter anymore. What's important is that Sasuke dies. I shouldn't think of Naruto...or Kakashi-senpai...or Yamato-san...or even that idiot Sai. Focus on the hate. Focus. Focus Sakura!_

" _Baka. You can say that all you want, but you know it isn't going to go away. Face it, you miss Team 7 as messed up as it was."_

_Shut up_

The walls only got closer.

XxXxXxX

"**SHE'S WHAT?" **The Hokage tower shook with the bellow of the normally soft-spoken man.

" Shut your pie-hole before I shut it for you and listen!" At that, the silver haired man slumped against the wall with a defeated sigh.

"She's gone. I assume she left to find Sasuke. I alerted the Kazekage brat already, but I doubt he'll do anything to stop her. Not that I would do it either. Don't look so suprised Hatake. We all knew she would snap. She hadn't done much but train her ass off since Naruto died. It doesn't take much to figure it out. " Kakashi stared off at the window. He looked like he had gained 5 years since the meeting had started.

"She's officially a missing-nin. Don't give me that look, Kakashi. I can't bend all the laws. The council declared it the moment she left the gates without authorization. I can't control her status, but I can control the Anbu. Although Haruno Sakura is declared a missing-nin, she would not be hunted down as one unless she proves to be a threat to the village." Tsunade stated with a tired huff as she reached for her sake. The silver haired jounin continued to stare off into space with a nonchalent expression. It would fool any lesser being, but Tsunade knew the ninja was tearing up inside at the news. You couldn't be that nonchalant when you find out that two of your students were now missing-nin while one was dead at the hands of one of the prodigies you personally trained.

"I was going to give her an official mission to hunt down Uchiha too. If she had waited for a couple days, she would have found herself stained with the brat's blood. She didn't need to leave..." The Slug Princess blinked back tears at the daughter she lost to revenge.

Kakashi looked away at the woman and found himself wishing to have left with Sakura.

_Sakura, it isn't worth it. Its never worth it..._

XxXxXxX

The last time he stared at a piece of paper for this long was when he saw his brother in the bingo book for the first time. He nearly broke down that time and had started slicing the the booklet into tiny pieces. He couldn't resist the grim smile as he watched his brother's face and other missing nins burn to ashes when he set the torn sheets of paper on fire with a simple jutsu. This time, he didn't know what to feel. He didn't know if he wanted to burnt he tiny slip of paper and forget it was even there, or to toss it the trash and pretend it was never there. Either way, he was ignoring it.

Tsunade must have made a mistake. That demoness must have messed up something. There was no possible way Haruno Sakura was after him. No possibilty that Sakura had abandoned Konoha. Not _Sakura. _She was too passonate, too naive, too helpless to be out of the safe little haven of Konoha. There was just no plausible way that the pinkette would abandon her perfect world to find him and spout her nonsense about love.

He never paid much attention to her, even when she attempted to kill him after the fight with Danzo. But he was certaint that she had at least matured enough to be rid of ridiculous pretenses of love. She would never abandon the village, period.

_But that's not true. She would abandon the village for one thing and one thing only. Naruto._

The raven haired boy stopped breathing at that. Naruto was a sore spot. He couldn't deny that he killed Naruto, but he didn't relish in that fact like he once belived he would. He wasn't proud that he kill the annoying kid. He wasn't happy that he severed all ties that day. He regretted it. He, Uchiha Sasuke, regretted killing his only friend.

But that was something for another day. Right now, he needed to solve the problem with Sakura. She must've have left Konoha for revenge. It was the only explanation he could come up with but it still pained him that his teammate wanted to spill his blood.

_Isn't that what you did though?_

XxXxXxX

In the end, he only managed to fold the piece of paper and to hide it away among the folds of his robes. The forehead protector and the picture were a little more difficult to deal with. As his civilian persona Unitaka Sasumo, he had to hide away all chakra and be under henge at all times. It was troublesome but if he wanted to start over and live a more peaceful life, it was necessary. It was discomforting, but Sasuke had nearly ababndoned everything that indicated of his violent pass, having only his sword as a reminder. The forehead protector and the picture were clear indicators of a shinobi and could not necessarily be hidden away as easily. Although he rented the room, the owners of the small inn liked to make suprise visits and rummage through his things. It wasn't surprising when you considered the fact that the owners happened to be young women looking for suitable husbands. It always annoyed him to no end when it seemed that he would always fit that criteria. As troublesome as it was, Sasuke decided that it was time to move.

He quickly folded his clothes and carefully organized them into his pack. It didn't really seem necessary but he couln't resist cleaning the room; it was common mannerisms. He lefta couple ryo on the small table near the window with a quick note of thank you and promptly lept from the window sill into the alley.

He was currently staying in a small village on the outskirts of the Earth Country but that had to changed. If Tsunade knew where he was, who's to say other shinobi wouln't trail him this far. As he contemplated what he could have possibly done to alert the Hokage of his where abouts, he changed his henge from Unitaka's brown hair to a dull blond and indulged himself in his natural charcoal black eyes. He tied the blond strands in his hair tie and continued toward the Wind Country. It had been a while since he went there.

XxXxXxX

"Haruno-san! Its so good to see you again! Are you here to visit Temari-sama again?" A chunin guard happily shouted at the sight of the ragged kuniochi.

"Uhh, yes Yuminako-san. Is she here?" Apparently the news that she had abandoned her village did not reach Suna yet.

"I don't believe she left for her mission yet. You should stop by the kazekage building. Have a good day Haruno-san."

Sakura kept to the shadows as she headed toward the cylinder buiding that bore the village emblem. It had been nearly two days since she left Konoha. There was no way the messenger hawks had not alerted the other hidden villages of her defection yet. Lady Tsunade may have had a hand in this. The pinkette smiled softly at the thought of her suragate mother.

As Sukura passed though security, it became evident that no one knew of her defection. Everyone she met was as friendly as ever in their gruff manner. Nothing much had changed since she had last visited but she couln't deny that this visit was under much more sinister circumstances. Still, it was strange that no one knew of her status. It soon became clear when she saw the Kazekage for the first time in weeks.

She quickly got to the point after her escorts left the spacious room.

"Gaara. I need your help. Its about-"

"I'm going with you."He interjected.


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer- I keep forgetting to do this but here goes nothing. I DON'T OWN NARUTO!

XxXxXxX

The room only got quieter as the renowned Kazekage studied the ragged kunoichi's reaction to his words. She didn't look any different from her last visit to the village. Her pale skin was still marred with streaks of mud and sand from her long journey. Her long pink bangs brushed her cheek bones, but did nothing to cover the empty look in her eyes. She didn't look any different to a stranger, but to a friend, the new glow from the medic-nin was unmistakable. Sakura looked..._happy._

When Naruto passed, Sakura was prepared to do anything to make things right. She was prepared to kill her team mate for him. She never hesitated to declare her hatred for the Uchiha. She was prepared to sacrifice anything to achieve that goal. She had sacrificed her career as a medic-nin (not that anyone really trusted an emotionless medic to save their lives). She betrayed all that was close to her. She left her village, her home. She became a missing nin for Sasuke's soul. She was prepared to lose all that was to her name, all for revenge. No, for _Justice. _

_Guess I'm just like Sasuke then, huh?_

_" Nah, we have boundries."_

_Like not dragging any of our friends into this._

"No.", came her curt reply.

She was answered with a carefully arched eyebrow and a small frown. It was a small change in expression but for Gaara, it screamed _Why? _and _You dare to disagree with me?_

"You're the Kazekage. You can't just get up and leave your village like I did. You're too important to lose."

"And you're not?"

"...I haven't been important for a long time." She said in a quietly "Plus, Naruto wouldn't be able to forgive you if you just brush your duties aside. Its not like you, Gaara. I need to do this on my own", she looked down with a small, sad smile.

The red head stared at her for a couple moments until he got up and walked toward the window that looked over the village "...He was last seen near the border of Earth Country. Temari has more data and the provisions the Hokage sent. "

"Thanks."

XxXxXxX

"So, you from around here?" the woman beside Sasuke drawled out in what he supppose was her sultry voice.

He ignored her and kept walking toward the medium size village in the Wind Country. He really couldn't get any peace and quiet without killing anyone could he?

"Awwww, don't be so grumpy. You're messing up that handsome face of yours." Undeterred, she reached up and tried to smooth the growing frown on the blond's face with her claws.

A vein in his forehead pulsed as he violently threw the female off his body. She was obviously in serious pain from the impact with the floor, but the woman could not take her eyes off the young male. While scrambling to her feet, she tried to meet his eyes, his _red eyes._

_"Annoying."_ Sasuke thought as he put the woman to sleep with his sharingan. He couldn't stand anyone touching his body, espicially with the claws of a woman. It disgusted him to no end. He tossed the unconsious woman on the side of the road and placed a genjutsu over her. He may be heartless, but he wasn't ruthless enough to put the woman in danger of other men.

_That was the third one today..._he sighed inwardly as he proceeded toward the village.

He hated moving around so much but it was necessary in this lifestyle. He was a missing-nin wanted dead or alive by all the large hidden villages and even some of the smaller ones. It was a pain but he created so many different personas in the years after the fourth ninja war that he lost track. As he constructed a new idenity for this blond, dark eyed persona, he couldn't help but remember of the times he was _Uchiha Sasuke _of the Hidden Leaf. It seemed such a long time ago since he was allowed to walk into a hidden village without fear that he would be assinated in his sleep. He had more freedom in those times. He had more honor and pride as a Uchiha. But it was more than that.

He wasn't _alone _in those days.

These days, he even dared to wish for the company of a loud-mouthed prankster known as the Naruto. He would never admit it, but he missed the blond's love for ramen. Hell, he even missed Sakura. The girl was one of the most annoying he ever met but the way she used to cling to him boosted his male pride. It was still difficult to wrap around the thought that the pink haired kunoichi would become a missing-nin to hunt him down. No matter how much he thought about it, it did not fit her character from his days in Konoha.

_But it has been years. You have no idea how much she changed._

When the village's walls came into sight, he wiped his mine clear of Sakura and Naruto and focused on his "background" with renewed determination..

XxXxXxX

He was cursed. He was certaint of it now. He watched his best friend die. He watched his sensei and his wife die. He watched everyone of his friends die before him. And now this.

He had undoubtly trained one of the strangest and most powerful group of ninja of all time, Team 7. One of his students was the sole survivor of the Uchiha massacre who eventually abandoned his village to seek power with the guidance of missing-nin. He killed his teammate who happened to be the fourth hokage's own son and the nine-tails's jinjuriki. The last member abadoned her home for the life of the Uchiha. To make it worse, there was nothing he could do to help. It seemed that Hatake Kakashi was surrounded by death and revenge.

How depressing.

XxXxXxX

"Sakura, I was wondering when you'll pop up." Temari said as she slapped her friend's back.

"Temari, Gaara said-"

"I know, but no need to rush. Its been a while since I've seen you. So, what have you up to? You know, besides trying to kill that chicken-assed brat?" the blond kunoichi smirked.

Sakura couldn't help but smile at that." You know, the usual. Thinking of ways to painfully castrate a Uchiha. Poisoning poor little children. Destroying landscape. Plain old, same old."

"Oh Sakura, what the hell am I gonna do with you? But back to business, what are you gonna do? Just track him down with our info? You can't rely on us forever you know. You're a missing-nin now. Even if the Hidden Leaf and the Hidden Sand won't treat you like one, the other villages will. You have to be more careful; you can't drag the Hokage or Gaara down with you, Pinky. If you do, we're all in danger of another war. Those peace talks can only last so long." Temari said sternly.

"I'm prepared for that, Temari. I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you three. But don't worry, you'll never see me again." no one could mistake the determined look in Sakura's eyes.

"Nah, just don't get killed out there, you won't have two villages by your side any more."

"...I never did."


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto, but I really wish I did.

XxXxXxX

It wasn't until she left the Sand village did Sakura really start to think. Yes, she was aware she left Konoha for revenge. Yes, she understood that she was a nuke-nin that will be hunted down by every village in the world. Yes, she was aware that she had just thrown her life away as a renowned medic-nin projected to surpass the Hokage. Yes, she was aware that she had sworn her life away to kill her last remaining teammate. She was aware that she had chosen a path that she would have scorn a couple years ago.

But she_ didn't _understand what all that really meant.

It wasn't until she settled under a large oak tree on the edge of a forest for the night that she really thought of what she just did. What she _really_ did, not what she dreamed of doing. When she walked passed the gates of Konoha all she thought of was the prospect of finally doing _something _to help Naruto. She was so focused on honoring her brother's spirit that she she never really thought of what she was about to do. She had walked out of Konoha with a sense of pride that she was doing what was right and what needed to be done to honor Naruto. She didn't think she would look back and regret what she did.

_She didn't think. _

She knew she was abandoning everyone in this quest but she didn't really think of what that meant to her. She would never see her parents again. She would never see Ino-pig in the flower shop anymore. She would never help Tsunade-shishou complete paperwork anymore. She would never train with Kakashi-sensei anymore. She would never step another foot in the place Naruto had loved and protected, the place she abandoned.

_No, I don't regret it. I would never regret finishing Naruto's fight. I would never regret killing Sasuke for Naruto. I will never regret this choice._

_"Too bad. You sorta already do, dumbass." _Inner Sakura scoffed at herself.

She almost cried out in realization under her tree. She wanted to go back to Lady Tsunade's arms and cry for forgiveness. She wanted to go back to the memorial stone and trace Naruto's name. But she couldn't. She had chosen her path and she would stick to it. That was her shinobi way. She had wished this for a very long time and she was not about to give up on it now. She was not going to disgrace herself by walking back into Konoha with tears in her eyes. She couldn't let Naruto down.

She stared into the waning moon as the tree rustled in quiet sorrow.

XxXxXxX

_Haruno Sakura, Missing-nin of Konohagakure _

_Class A _

_Medic Nin trained under the Godaime Hokage, predicted to surpass in medic field_

_Relations:Teammate to Uchiha Sasuke(Pg 56) and deceased Uzumaki Naruto _

_Abilities: unknown_

_Highly dangerous, do not particpate in fight unless necessary._

Sasuke could hardly believe his eyes as he read through the bingo book's newest addition. So it was true. Sakura really did leave Konoha. Although the note the Hokage sent hinted the notion, Sasuke had refused to believe that the annoying girl he left on the bench all those years ago had actually _left _the village. He couldn't believe the pink haired girl had the guts to leave the village when she cowered behind him in those missions he had with team 7. Unbelievable, but he could not deny the small hint of pride that his former teammate had gotten strong enough to be worth mentioning as a relation to him.

More surprising, perhaps, was the cautioning note the page ended with. Sakura was _dangerous? Do not participate in fight unless necessary?_ There must be have been a mistake. As far as he could remember, the only thing Sakura had been good at was crying and chakra control. Maybe she had developed a new jutsu that involved drowning her opponents in the salt water from her eyes. There was simply no way _Haruno Sakura _was _dangerous._

_Trained under the Godaime Hokage?_ He remembered hearing that team 7 resembled the previous legendary sanin, but he assumed it was because Naruto and himself had been trained under Jiraiya and Orochimaru respectively; he didn't think that Sakura was also trained by a sanin, although it would have made more sense if she was.

Sasuke blinked as he listened to his inner ramblings. No matter how surprising, Sakura had nothing to do with him now. Even if Sakura had left Konoha to kill him, he doubt she could do anything serious. She was a medic-nin after all. She may have become powerful without him noticing but that was of little consequence. The situation changed nothing. He would continue on as normal and avoid being noticed as an infamous Uchiha. Nothing changed.

That did nothing to explain why he kept glancing at his bag that held the photo frame of team 7. It did nothing to explain why he brushed his finger over the polished metal of a red forehead-protector.

Nothing.

XxXxXxX

When the sun finally rose from the confines of the night, Sakura's determination was renewed. It took only one night of imagining Naruto's pale face to spark the pacified anger within her to make get up from the floor. Instead of spending the night sleeping like smart missing-nin, she contemplated as to why she was here. Why she was really in the woods looking for her teammate. She had always thought that it was for revenge, that she wanted to see the Uchiha's blood on her hands. But after a night of staring off into the night sky, she found the answer through all the tears she had shed.

She didn't necessarily have to kill Sasuke as she deluded herself into believing. All she wanted from Sasuke was an explaination to why one of the brightest people in the world had to be stolen from the world. She wanted an explaination to why he didn't simply go back to Konoha now that he completed his revenge and the trouble with Orochimaru was long over. She just wanted an explaination. Naruto's death made her crazed with the thought of revenge. As tempting as it was, she was determined to not be a missing-nin because of revenge. As stupid as it sounded, she wanted to be a missing-nin to complete what Naruto did and to find the answers that haunted team 7 for years.

Still, if killing came with the whole package, she would gladly take the bonus. Her new angle at the Sasuke situation didn't hide the fact that she wanted _Sasuke-kun _to hurt. No matter what she decided her purpose for leaving her village was for, she still wanted to see Sasuke die.

Sakura quickly packed her sleeping bag into the compact bag on her back as she scoped the landscape. In her eagerness to search for Sasuke, she had crossed the desert in a day. It surprised her that the simple thought of seeing Sasuke made her compact two days of traveling in one.

"_Never underestimate the power of a excited kunoichi." Inner Sakura scoffed_

Temari's info pointed that the target was last seen in a smll civilian village at the border of the Earth country and appeared to be on the move to the Wind country. Last seen, he had brown haire and had brown eyes that was sighted to momentarily flash red. The shinobi trailing him noted that several women and a couple men approached him for their sexual services. All were later found on the edge of the street, knocked out and under genjutsu but otherwise untouched.

_It's almost like following a trail of breadcrumbs. Except with rejected women and men. _

_"Arrogant jackass."_

Although Sasuke's current idenity was unknown, the little data that Temari was able to uncover was more than what Salua had hoped for. It seemed almost easy to track him down. How hard could it really be? There weren't many stoic, anti-social, handsome, arrogant jerks in the shinobi world, were there?

It was sad how wrong she was.

XxXxXxX

He was certaint someone was following him now. Sasuke had felt the person's chakra following him for days now, but he wasn't sure if it was merely a coinincidence.

Maybe it was chance that both of them traveled the same road and lived in the same hotel. Maybe it was a coincidence that this person's chakra seemed disturbingly familiar. Maybe it was a crazy piece of luck that the person didn't continue the chase when Sasuke neared a ramen stand.

It was suspicious but he couldn't do anything until he was certaint. It really would not help innocent Suika Atsui's situation of he attacked an innocent civilian for no reason at all. He hd to be sure.

He was being followed by a blond ninja.

A/N: Thank you for all those who reviewed this fledgling story. I'm a very busy student so I can't always have a schedule for writing. So please keep that in mind if I don't update this story that often. If you haven't then please review! Every suggestion is taken to consideration.


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